


King of Thieves

by hummerhouse



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Complete, Danger, Gen, Magic, Mind Control, Theft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:40:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24670954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hummerhouse/pseuds/hummerhouse
Summary: Disclaimer: The TMNT are not mine. No money being made.Word Count: 3,980 multi-chapter TMNT 2k3Summary: April O'Neil owned an antiques shop and knew that in the normal course of business would lose some inventory due to theft.  She just never expected this kind of theft.Rated: G~~Written for the Ninja Squares 2020 challenge. I chose 2 squares for this story: "April" and "A Villain From 2003".
Comments: 8
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

It had been a busy day and when April O’Neil glanced at the clock, she audibly sighed with relief to note that it was nearly closing time.

Customers had come and gone sporadically throughout the day, most of them what she liked to call ‘looky-loos’. Fortunately, for every twenty of those there was usually one who actually bought something.

Today that buyer had taken a rather expensive china cabinet off her hands and the sale had left April in a good mood. She’d made enough of a profit on that one item to pay all of her bills for a month, and then some.

When there were no customers in the shop, April spent her time opening boxes containing some newly acquired items, most of them from an estate sale. The gentleman who had died had relocated to New York City from India, and had no family.

Cleaning and displaying the objects to their best advantage had eaten away the hours. April was tired and more than ready to climb into a hot bath.

She was humming to herself as she began straightening up in preparation for closing. When the bell over the door jangled, it took some effort to swallow her groan and put on a smile for her last-minute customer.

The man who had entered began to stroll around the shop, looking but not touching, and not seemingly interested in anything in particular. April mentally categorized him as a window-shopper, silently cursing his timing.

Still, there was something oddly familiar about the man. His shirt and pants were dark in color, his coat and hat both black. He had a large black mustache, a thick gold chain around his neck, and a flower in his lapel. The flower drew April’s attention particularly, because it looked like a lotus, large with pinkish white petals and a bright yellow receptacle at its center.

April took particular note of the flower because it was rather incongruous in comparison to the way the man was dressed. However, it wouldn’t be the Big Apple if she didn’t see something strange at least once a day.

As the man continued to aimlessly wander through the shop, April turned her attention back to her closing routine. She was sure that once he made the rounds, he would wander right back out again and then she could lock up for the night.

At one point in his meanderings the man stopped and spent a full minute looking over items grouped together on a shelf. It was some of the inventory she’d just put out; the smaller pieces. April hadn’t as yet unpacked all of the boxes because she needed to reorganize and clear space for them.

When the man suddenly spoke it startled April, who visibly jumped.

“I’m sorry, what was it you wanted to know?” April asked, feeling guilty that she hadn’t really heard his question the first time.

His small, ingratiating smile did not quite reach his eyes, which appeared calculating. “I was wondering if you had any items similar to these, perhaps in a storeroom?”

The man had an accent, his voice striking another familiar chord. She was sure that he’d been in her shop before, she just couldn’t place him.

“Those things all came from the same estate sale,” April said. “I have a couple more boxes of stuff, I just haven’t gotten around to putting out the rest of the items.”

This time his eyes did show some emotion; eagerness. He approached the counter she was standing behind to ask, “By any chance would one of those items be a simple gold colored bowl?”

“Actually, I think so,” April said. “Just a second while I look.”

She moved away from the counter to an area near the back door where Casey had stacked the boxes. The one on top held the bowl she remembered seeing and she brought it back to where the man waited.

It was about the size of a wide soup bowl and heavier than it looked. The entire bowl was highly polished to the point where April could almost see her reflection.

When she set it on the counter, the man lifted it to peer inside before turning it over to inspect the bottom. “This appears to be the bowl that I was looking for,” he said.

“All of the things from those boxes were brought here from India by their owner,” April said. “The estate agent gave me an inventory that said this bowl is made of bell metal and was hand-crafted in the Mayong region of India.”

“Yes, indeed,” the man said, setting the bowl down again. “The Mayong witch bowls are very distinctive.”

“Witch bowls?” April asked.

“Let me show you. May I use some of your water?” the man asked.

Puzzled, April nodded and handed him her bottle. He opened it and poured water into the bowl until it was half-full.

“Legends say that when you add water and place a flower into the bowl, the bowl’s colors change to project your aura,” the man said. He pulled the flower from his lapel and placed it into the bowl, stirring the water around it until the flower was spinning. “All you have to do is look deeply into the water while the flower moves.”

April did not believe the tale, but she was curious. Besides, the man seemed to expect her to look into the bowl, and she didn’t want to appear impolite.

For a couple of seconds, it was the flower that held her attention, but then she thought she saw its colors melting into the water. With each pass of the flower, the colors in the water became more vibrant, until she couldn’t pull her gaze away.

The next thing she knew, April was lying on the floor behind the counter. It was pitch black in the shop and completely silent.

She felt dizzy as she slowly sat up and so she waited for a slow count of ten before trying to get to her feet. As she started to straighten, her head hit something that clanged loudly and she moved back a few feet before trying to stand again.

As her eyes grew accustomed to the dark, April realized that what she’d hit was the open drawer of her cash register. Feeling around, she found the cord on a desk lamp and switched on the light.

The first thing she noticed was that the cash register was empty. There hadn’t been a lot of money in there and April gave a silent thanks that most of her transactions these days were in the form of credit cards.

Looking around, she saw that some of the smaller, more expensive items kept in the glass case were gone. So too was the Mayong bell metal bowl.

Under her breath, April muttered a few of the choice words she’d picked up from Casey. A glance at the clock showed her that over three hours had passed since her encounter with the last man in her shop. She remembered nothing of that three-hour period.

The door to her backroom office was ajar and April walked over to investigate. When she flipped on the lights, she saw that the door to her small safe was open and all the cash inside was missing.

This time she cursed loudly and with feeling. There had been around a thousand dollars in the safe, along with some estate jewelry worth close to ten thousand.

Spinning, April made straight for the machine that held the security recordings for her shop. The machine itself was still on the shelf where it belonged, but the day’s tape was gone.

Apparently, her thief was quite knowledgeable about security systems. That would have angered her further if she didn’t have an ace up her sleeve. For the first time that night April felt something other than anger. She didn’t need the police; she just needed the guys who had backup recordings of everything that went on in her shop.

“Okay, April, I have it keyed up to the time when you say your thief entered the shop,” Donatello said. “Let’s see what he looks like.”

Her mutant turtle friends had been surprised to see April when she’d arrived at the lair. They were greatly concerned when she spun out her tale and Don had immediately gone to his computer station to load the day’s security recordings.

“Maybe you should see a doctor,” Mikey said. “If he hit you hard enough to knock you out for a few hours, you might have a concussion or something.”

“My head doesn’t hurt,” April said. “There are no lumps. I know he didn’t hit me, but I don’t know what he used to render me unconscious.”

“Could be he sprayed something in your face,” Raph said.

“The recording should tell us,” Leo said, quieting the group.

They saw the man enter the shop and begin perusing the goods. He kept his head down so that his hat hid his face from the security cameras, even when he was at the counter.

April watched as the recording showed the man set the flower in motion in the bowl and then her bending over to watch.

Thirty seconds later April had straightened, her face completely devoid of expression. Clearly the man then had said something to her, because she nodded and opened the register. She’d cleaned it out, handing everything to the man before reaching into the glass case and plucking out anything he’d pointed to. These she also handed over to him without batting an eyelash.

Together they had then gone into April’s office. The camera there showed that he’d remained in the doorway, thus avoiding coming far enough into the room for his face to show. While he’d waited, April had opened the safe and placed the cash and jewelry into a bag. The last thing she’d done was to remove the tape from the recording machine.

After they’d exited the office, April had returned to her spot behind the counter while the man moved back to where the bowl sat. He’d plucked the flower from the bowl, giving it a shake to remove the excess water, and then returned it to his lapel. The water he’d poured onto the floor before tucking the bowl into a large outer pocket on his jacket.

He’d then started for the door, pausing to turn and point at April. Her eyes had closed and she’d fallen to the floor.

On his way out the man had finally looked up, no doubt sure that the cameras weren’t recording him. All four of the turtles gasped.

“That’s the King of Thieves!” Don exclaimed.

“The who?” April asked.

“The guy who sent those goons a couple of Halloweens ago to rob your shop,” Raph said. “He wanted that ugly statue, remember?”

“Oh. _Oh!_ ” Memories flooded back into April’s mind at the mention of the statue. “I knew he looked familiar. I thought he was caught and sent to prison.”

“Looks like he’s out and up to no good again,” Leo said. “That bowl must have been a magical artifact, just like the statue was. What do you know about the bowl, April?”

She told them about the estate sale and how she ended up with the bowl. “What I don’t get is how he knew I had the bowl. Buyer information is confidential.”

“Do you sign some sort of guest book at these things?” Don asked. “I’ve watched a few televised sales and there’s always a book near the door where people sign in.”

“Oh my gosh, you’re right!” April’s eyes were wide. “I did sign the guest book and I even wrote the name of the shop next to my signature. I wasn’t the only person there though.”

“I’m sure he was checking the businesses first before moving on to private buyers,” Don said.

“He did roam around looking at things before approaching me,” April said. “The items at the sale were sold in lots and listed together in the guide. When he saw some of those other things that were sold with the bowl, he knew that I had acquired it as well.”

“And he was probably giving himself time to make sure ya’ were alone too,” Raph said, his expression grim.

“So, what do we do now?” Mikey asked.

“We get back April’s belongings,” Leo said. “There has to be a way to track that guy down.”

As one, the group looked at Donatello. “Geez, no pressure, right?”

“If anyone can do it, you can,” Mikey said encouragingly. “You are the turtle.”

Don tapped his chin, deep in thought. “The traffic cameras might have caught him as he left the shop. Let me see if I can access them.”

His fingers flew over the keyboard, causing strings of numbers and symbols to scroll across the computer screen. Next to him, April made suggestions while the other turtles waited for the pair of hackers to produce something usable.

“I’m in!” Don chortled. “He walked two blocks before getting on a bus. By following the bus schedule, I was able to observe each stop along its route. He got off at Tilden Avenue and went across the street to the Red Star Hotel. I played the recording on fast forward and he hasn’t come out.”

April was watching the screen. “A lot of people have been in and out though, more than I would expect to see in a hotel of that type,” she said. “Could you back it up to an hour ago?”

Don did as she asked, playing the recording at normal speed. Men and women could be seen going in, leaving, and returning with boxes and bags. The all came out empty handed. Every one of them had the same blank expression as April had worn after her encounter with the master thief.

“He’s using that bowl to hypnotize people into stealing for him,” Leo said. He pointed at a young man in a uniform. “That’s a pizza delivery guy. The woman behind him is from an express delivery service.”

“Now we know where he is, we can go get him,” Raph said. “I say this time we give him a beat down to remember _before_ we turn him over to the cops.”

“You should head home, April,” Leo said. “We’ll bring your stolen belongings back to you.”

“I’d rather stay here and monitor what’s happening,” April said, sliding into the seat Don had vacated. “That man is using magic, so there’s no telling what tricks he has up his sleeves. If you guys need help, I can grab Master Splinter and drive him over there.”

“That’s a sound idea, Leo,” Don said, looking at his brother. He knew that Leo had suggested she go home to keep her from wanting to go with them. Don also knew how stubborn April could be.

Leo’s nod was as much an acknowledgment of his acceptance of April’s offer as it was a confirmation that Don understood what was going through his mind.

As they headed for the garage, Mikey paused next to April. “If we come out of there acting like zombies, do not let me give that guy my comic book collection.”

“I certainly won’t,” April said with a smile, watching him jog to catch up to his brothers.

Taking the wheel of the Battle Shell, Raph began driving towards their destination. Don, who was in the passenger seat, asked, “Last time we went after this guy it was Halloween and we could walk around freely. How are we finding which room he’s in now?”

Before Leo could respond, Mikey piped up. “Ooh, I’ve got this one. I can put on the apron and hat with the Tony’s Pizza logo on it that’s in our trunk of disguises. Then I can walk right in carrying a pizza box and ask for the guy’s room number. The clerk will just think I’m wearing a turtle suit as a gimmick.”

Raph scowled at him in the rearview mirror. “Trying to be serious here, Mikey.”

“Actually, that might work,” Leo said slowly, his mind racing. “One of the ninjas’ best weapons is the ability to hide in plain sight. Mike could use his shell cell to tell us which floor he’s headed to and then open a window to let us in once he’s there.”

“I mean, the guy has had people coming in all evening,” Mikey said. “The person working the night counter probably won’t give me a second look.”

They found a loading dock not far from the hotel and parked there. Mikey dug through the trunk that was kept in the back of the Battle Shell and located his disguise. The pizza box was the easiest thing to find since there were several of them leftover from meals they’d eaten while on the go.

“Good thing no one cleaned up in here,” Mikey said as he tied on the apron.

“That was your job, by the way,” Don told him.

Mikey winked. “See, I knew there was a reason to procrastinate.”

“As if ya’ ever needed a reason,” Raph said.

“No messing around, Mikey. You go straight in, get the room information, and get out of the lobby fast. As few people as possible need to see you,” Leo admonished.

“That sucks considering I’m so pretty,” Mikey said, flashing his trademark grin before exiting the vehicle.

The usual exhilaration of being out in the open hit Mikey as soon as he stepped onto the sidewalk. Making his way to the hotel his stride was jaunty, and he smiled and nodded at passersby. Their eyes skimmed over the apron and they kept going like true New Yorkers; paying little to no attention to their fellows.

Behaving for all the world as if he belonged, Mikey pulled open the hotel entry door and walked across the small lobby directly to the front desk.

“May I help you . . . sir?” the clerk asked. His frown quickly smoothed out when he saw the pizza box.

Mikey leaned an elbow on the counter. “Dude, you sure can. Some guy in your hotel ordered a pizza, but my manager lost the room number. He said the man had an accent and mentioned that he had a big mustache.”

The clerk showed zero curiosity as to why a phone-in customer would talk about his mustache. Instead he rolled his eyes and returned to looking bored. “That’d be the guy in room four-ten. He’s been ordering stuff all night. Don’t know where he’s putting it and don’t care as long as I don’t have to clean up after.”

“Thanks, dude. You saved me,” Mikey said, jauntily tapping the counter twice before moving towards the elevator.

As it lifted him to the fourth floor, Mikey called his brothers and told them where to meet him. Stepping out of the elevator, he took a quick look around. Next to the elevator was a small alcove which held an ice maker and a vending machine.

The rest of the hallway contained doors to rooms. It wasn’t special as hotels went, probably somewhere between a one- and two-star rating, according to the hotel guides Mikey had seen. That meant the walls were thin, which could be a good or bad thing, depending.

At one end of the hallway was a large window. Mikey preceded in that direction, noting that the stairs were there as well. Always a good thing to know when a quick exit might become necessary.

His brothers were waiting for him on the fire escape. Leaning the pizza box against the wall, Mikey checked that there were no alarms attached to the window and then opened it for them.

“Did you run into anyone other than the clerk in the lobby?” Leo asked.

“Nope. Not in the elevator either,” Mikey said. “The clerk did say our guy has been ordering stuff all night.”

“Then we should hurry before another shipment arrives,” Leo said, checking the nearest door numbers in order to situate himself before moving.

As they walked silently through the hallway, they could hear the sound of televisions playing in several rooms and at least one heated conversation. “Thin walls,” Mikey murmured, verifying aloud what he’d guessed earlier.

From one room they heard footfalls behind the door, as though someone was about to exit. Leo glanced at Mikey, who pulled the bill of his cap lower and turned his head towards the spyhole so that the pizza logo was visible. Whoever was inside backed away from the door.

The door to room four-ten looked exactly like its neighbors. There was one difference though; the U bar lock had been pushed back to hold the door partially open.

“Guess he’s too lazy to get up and let people in,” Raph whispered.

Leo held up a finger for silence and then leaned in close to the door. Hearing no sound at all, he took one step back and then kicked the door open.

The turtles darted into the room, fanning out around Leo. There wasn’t much space though because almost every surface was piled high with stolen goods, all except the centermost point of the room.

On a small red and gold throw rug was the man they’d come to call ‘The King of Thieves’. He was sitting cross-legged and on the floor in front of him was the bowl he had stolen from April. The bowl contained water and the lotus flower from his lapel.

He did not appear at all surprised to see them. “I suppose you’ve come for the bowl.”

“That and everything else you took from the shop,” Leo said. “Then we’re turning you over to the police.”

“I’m afraid I can’t allow that,” the Master Thief said. “To gain the power of the bowl, you can never return a stolen item and you must prove that you are the greatest of all thieves.”

“Ya’ got people stealing for ya’, how is that great?” Raph asked.

The Master Thief chuckled. “Is there any greater theft than that of stealing someone’s willpower?”

“That ends now,” Leo said.

In response, the man dipped his finger into the bowl and stirred the water, sending the lotus flower into a spin. He then began murmuring something under his breath.

“We’re not going to look into your bowl,” Don said. “That isn’t going to work.”

The brothers started forward but had only gone a couple of steps when a prism of color shot out of the bowl. It began to dance around the room, covering the walls, the floor, and the ceiling in an ever-shifting myriad of hues.

Michelangelo was still moving towards the man when he realized that he was alone. Looking back, he saw that his brothers were all frozen in place, each wearing the same blank expression that April had worn earlier while under the man’s influence.

“What did you do to my brothers?” Mikey demanded, striding forward and grasping the man by the front of his shirt.

“They didn’t need to look into the bowl,” the Master Thief said. “The more I steal, the greater the power of the bowl. Soon the city will be at my feet, doing my bidding.”

Mikey yanked him up from the floor. “Don’t think so. Your magic trick isn’t working on me. Release my bros’.”

“I have a better idea.” The Master Thief looked past him at the other turtles. “Get him.”

The _schnick_ of their weapons being drawn surprised Mikey into releasing the man. He spun around to see his brothers coming right at him.

Lifting his hands, Mikey began to back away. “Guys, guys, snap out of it! You’re here to get _that_ guy, not me.”

His words fell on deaf ears. Soundlessly, all three of his brothers charged at him.

TBC….


	2. Final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The TMNT are not mine. No money being made.  
> Word Count: 4,967 multi-chapter TMNT 2k3  
> Summary: April O'Neil owned an antiques shop and knew that in the normal course of business would lose some inventory due to theft. She just never expected this kind of theft.  
> Rated: G

There was exactly one thing that Mikey could do, and that was to run. Since his brothers were blocking the exit, he chose the only other route open to him.

Whirling both nunchucks at the same time, he blasted out the glass and part of the frame on the closest window and dove through. Twisting in mid-air, he flung a nunchuck upwards, hooking it around one of the concrete posts decorating the exterior of the building.

Swinging up, Mikey caught hold of the post, tucking his nunchucks into his belt while suspended high above the street. Glancing back, he caught a glimpse of Leo peering up at him through the broken window before disappearing back into the room.

Mikey didn’t have to be a genius to know his brothers were heading for the fire escape. If they beat him up to the roof, he was in serious trouble.

Lunging skyward, he grasped onto the next handhold he could find and began to climb, wishing that he’d had the forethought to bring his shuko spikes. Of course, if he’d known in advance that he’d be running from his brothers, he’d have stayed home and avoided the situation in the first place.

Fortunately for him, the hotel was only eight stories tall. Scurrying up to the roof as quickly as he could, Mikey managed to get to where he had solid footing before his brothers appeared.

Mikey wasn’t sure which was scarier; having them coming after him, or the fact that they weren’t making a single sound. All he saw in their eyes was a dead stare and he gulped audibly.

“Maybe ‘dead’ isn’t the best word to think about right now,” he muttered to himself. Since the last thing he wanted to do was to take on all three of his brothers, especially when they were in this state, Mikey broke into a run.

Leaping across to the next building, Mikey yanked out his shell cell and called the lair.

_“Mikey, I just saw some more people go . . . .”_ April began.

“Mayday, mayday! No time, Apes, I’ve got trouble,” Mikey said, chancing a glance over his shoulder. Leo was too close for comfort, so he darted to the side and jumped to another building. As he landed, he saw Leo skid to a stop and turn to come after him.

_“What’s going on?”_ April asked.

“My bro’s got hypnotized and they’re trying to kill me,” Mikey said. Wind whipped past his face and blew the cap off his head. With his free hand, he yanked the apron off and tossed it behind him, hitting Donatello square in the face.

_“Where are you? I’ll bring Master Splinter,”_ April said.

“I’m running across rooftops trying to avoid having my head sliced off,” Mikey told her. “I’ll try to run them in circles so we stay close to the hotel. Oh, and April, get here fast.”

He disconnected before she could ask any more questions and quickly changed directions again. Something flew past him and with a loud _thunk_ , embedding itself in a deck chair. A glance showed him it was one of Raph’s sais.

Now Mikey began zig-zagging for all he was worth. It was bad enough that he had to stay out of range of Leo’s swords and Don’s staff, but Raph had weapons that could be thrown and he was very, very good with them.

The edge of the roof loomed up ahead of him and with dismay, Mikey saw that the opposite building was much taller than the one he was on. Slowing down to search for another way off wasn’t an option; he swore he could feel Leo’s breath on the back of his neck.

Then he spotted the hoops of a fixed roof ladder and broke left quickly to reach them. Latching onto one, he flipped around to grasp the opposite side rail and rather than bothering with the rungs, he slid down to the ground using just the palms of his hands.

A quick look up proved that his brothers were following. Mikey knew he couldn’t stay at street level for long. His brothers weren’t thinking like ninjas, not even Leo. They didn’t care if anyone saw them because they were completely focused on the order they’d been given.

Looking left and right to orient himself, Mikey saw that he only had one choice of direction. Going to the right would take him out of the alley but into the street. He’d have to go left.

In the time it took for him to decide where to run, Leo was already halfway down the ladder, sliding on the side rails just as Mikey had done. Raph and Don were close behind, their attention completely on Michelangelo.

Sprinting down the alley for about forty feet brought Mikey to a cross-alley. Since he’d told April he would try to keep his brothers going in circles, he took the left fork. He could hear his brothers pounding along the asphalt behind him.

Mikey very quickly saw that the alley was strewn with obstacles, but by that point it was too late to go back. There was nothing but smooth walls on either side of him, so he couldn’t even go up.

Running full out, Mikey began leaping over garbage bins, flipping up in the air to avoid shopping carts, and even sliding under a wooden bin. Behind him came the sounds of things crashing and Mikey guessed that his brothers were either plowing into stuff, or they were smashing things to get past them.

Up ahead were several cardboard box homes, their occupants sprawled partially in the alley itself. With a burst of speed in order to gain momentum, Mikey raced up the side of the nearest wall and ran sideways until he’d bypassed the homeless people.

Their shouts told Mikey that his brothers were not being nearly as courteous.

When Mikey’s eyes finally lit upon a thick drain pipe, he cried out in relief. Just as he jumped for the pipe, Donatello’s bō swept beneath his feet, barely missing his ankles. Grasping the pipe with both hands, he began to shimmy upwards as swiftly as he could.

It was bizarre to have his brothers chasing him without the sounds of Leo’s shouted commands or Raph’s curses. The whole thing was just too eerie, too much like some of the horror movies Mikey had watched.

Back on the rooftops, Mikey paused to get his bearings before breaking into a run. From the corner of his eye he spotted his brothers as they too reached the roof and started for him.

xxxxxxxxxx

After the turtles had left her, April spent a few minutes watching the traffic cameras and then she started pacing. The waiting part of any of her friends’ missions always made her anxious. She knew her role was important, but that didn’t make sitting around doing nothing any easier.

April finally realized that she _could_ do something, she could research. The thief had referred to the stolen bowl as a ‘Mayong witch bowl’. It was extremely likely that in order to defeat him, the turtles might need as much information on that subject as she could find.

She was so engrossed in her reading that she didn’t hear Master Splinter until he cleared his throat. Turning quickly, April saw that he was standing behind her.

“I am sorry to startle you, April,” Master Splinter said.

“That’s all right. Did I wake you?” April asked.

Master Splinter shook his head. “No. I sensed that something was wrong and that is what woke me. Where are my sons?”

April launched into an explanation of her misfortune and how the turtles had gone out to deal with the master thief.

“Ah, yes, I remember their last encounter with that man,” Master Splinter said. “He uses magic, and that makes him a very dangerous opponent. I shall remain on vigil with you.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, April said, “I’d appreciate that.” She glanced at the screen and saw two more people entering the hotel with boxes in their hands. “I’m getting worried.”

“My sons will call if they need assistance,” Master Splinter said. “Would you care for some tea while we wait?”

Before she had a chance to respond, her shell cell rang. When Mikey shouted ‘Mayday’ into the phone, April jumped to her feet and switched to speaker mode, allowing Master Splinter to hear what followed.

At the end of his explanation, Mikey said, _“Oh, and April, get here fast.”_

“Mikey, Mikey!” April shouted, but he was already off the line.

“Come, April, let us move quickly,” Master Splinter said.

Together they started for the garage where April had parked her van. Then she had a thought.

“Just one second, Master Splinter, I need to grab something,” April said.

xxxxxxxxxx

Hiding from his brothers in a parking garage had seemed like a good idea, until they chose that as a good time to spread out in an attempt to box him in.

Mikey knew they hadn’t said a word to each other, so they were either using hand signals or had suddenly gained the ability to read minds. He really hoped that wasn’t the case because staying out of their reach was already hard enough without them knowing what he was thinking.

He had planned to hide long enough to give April and Master Splinter time to get there, but that was no longer an option. When his brothers stayed together in a group, he could keep track of them, now he couldn’t.

From his position alongside an SUV, Mikey peered around the backend and saw Donatello striding down the center of the garage. The vehicle’s front end was too close to the retaining wall for Mikey to squeeze by and Don was going to spot him soon.

Mikey’s one chance was to tackle Don and somehow take him out of the equation. He could use Don’s own belt to tie him up and then drag him out of sight somewhere.

Bracing himself, Mikey got ready to leap on his brother as soon as Don was close enough to be taken by surprise.

He was so intent on catching Don that Mikey almost didn’t hear the faint thud of something hitting the top of the SUV. It was his reflexes that saved him as he threw himself to the side just as a katana blade swept a cutting arc where Mikey’s head had been.

Mikey bolted out of hiding at a dead run, racing past Donatello who swung his staff at him but missed. A red streak appeared to his right and Mikey dove into a forward roll as Raph flew past, his fingertips just grazing the younger turtle’s shell.

Coming out of the roll, Mikey sprinted down the ramp. All three of his brothers were hot on his heels, each of them running faster than they ever had.

As soon as Mikey grasped the fact that he wasn’t going to outrun them, he cut to his right and sprang over the retaining wall. He dropped ten feet before reaching out and catching the edge of the next wall down.

Mikey didn’t bother to look up to find out where his brothers were, instead releasing his grip and dropping another ten feet, and then repeating the maneuver until he was back at ground level.

This put him almost directly across the street from the Red Star Hotel. Mikey decided in that instant to go back inside to grab that thief by his throat and threaten to break it if he didn’t release his brothers from whatever spell they were under.

He ran out in the street directly into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

Tires squealed as the driver applied the brakes. The bumper stopped about an inch from Mikey’s knees and when he looked up, he saw April’s wide eyes staring back at him.

Jumping onto the hood, Mikey yelled, “Go, go, go!”

Instead of driving off, April opened the door and jumped out, placing herself directly in the path of the other three turtles.

“No~o!” Mikey screamed, watching as Leo lifted his swords.

Before he could swing, water hit him full in the face.

Leo went down as if he’d plowed into a brick wall. April turned her water bottle onto the other two turtles then, and a second stream joined hers. Master Splinter stood atop the van to empty the contents of his water bottle on his sons.

Mikey watched in shock as his brothers flailed about in the street, water getting into their eyes, nostrils, and mouths. Slowly they stilled and then all three of them began to blink rapidly.

“What . . . why are we . . . ?” Leo looked around in confusion as he sluggishly stood up.

Sliding off the hood of the van, Mikey reached out to help Donny to his feet. Raph got up too, shaking his arms to rid them of excess water.

“We need to get out of the street,” Master Splinter said, hopping down from the van.

His sons followed him into the vehicle and April slid in behind the wheel. She drove a block down the street before pulling into an alley.

“Somebody wanna tell me why I’m soaked?” Raph asked.

“It was the only way to snap you out of your trance,” April explained.

“We were in a trance? I don’t remember anything,” Don said.

“You guys were totally spaced out,” Mikey said. He went on to describe what had happened after they’d entered the hotel room and the ensuing chase.

“I’m glad we didn’t hurt you, Mikey, but why weren’t you hypnotized along with the rest of us?” Don asked.

Mikey shrugged. “You want my best guess? It’s ‘cause I was wearing that delivery cap. I had it pulled down low over my eyes. When the thief put on his magical light display, I couldn’t see the whole thing. My view was blocked.”

“It has to be the swirling pattern of the colors in the water that hypnotizes people,” April said. “I did some research on those bowls. The witch doctors in Mayong use the metal bowls to locate lost or stolen items. Someone perverted the magic in this particular bowl so that rather than finding something that’s been stolen, it causes people to steal.”

“That man wanted you to steal Michelangelo’s life,” Master Splinter said. “He must be stopped immediately.”

“Water is the key,” April said. “When I read that the witch doctors place a flower into a bowl, it mentioned nothing about water. Nowhere could I find that water was required to make the bowl work. That’s why I thought water would snap you out of your trance.”

The turtles looked at her in astonishment. “Ya’ didn’t know for positive that it would work?” Raph asked incredulously. “We could have seriously hurt ya’!”

April shook her head. “Master Splinter was there. He wouldn’t have let anything happen to me.”

“Okay guys, how do we approach a man who’s surrounded himself with a magical shield?” Leo asked. “I don’t care to be hypnotized a second time.”

“Actually, I’ve got an idea,” April said as she reached for the glove box. Popping it open, she dug around inside and then extracted a handful of dark glasses. “These are 3D glasses. Every time Casey and I go to one of those movies, we forget we’ve got these and end up buying more.”

Mikey took one from her and slid it over his eyes, hooking the earpieces into his headband. “Whoa. Everything looks kinda . . . not fuzzy but . . . .”

He paused, at a loss to define how he was seeing things. Don emulated his brother, fitting the earpieces snugly into his headband as well.

“Out of kilter,” Don said, supplying them with a good description. “Stereoscopic glasses feed a slightly different image into each eye. That should be enough to interfere with the color pattern projected from the bowl.”

Raph and Leo slipped on the glasses. “Just in case, try not to look at anything but the King of Thieves when we enter the room,” Leo said. “Focus on keeping your eyes on him and nothing else.”

“Ya’ can bet I ain’t gonna be looking at anything else,” Raph said, cracking his knuckles with a menacing _pop_.

When they left the van, April and Master Splinter climbed out as well. “I will be going with you, my sons,” Master Splinter said, clutching a pair of glasses and a water bottle. “I will remain on the roof to ensure there is no repeat of earlier happenings.”

“And I’ll hang out on the sidewalk in front of the hotel,” April said. She was already wearing 3D glasses. “If he gets past you guys, I’ll tackle him and grab that bowl.”

One look at April’s determined expression kept the guys from even trying to argue with her. Instead they scaled the nearest building and crossed rooftops until they were once again on top of the hotel.

“What is your plan?” Master Splinter asked.

“Mikey and I will go through the broken window directly into his room,” Leo said. “Raph, you and Don go in via the hallway. Start counting slowly to twenty as soon as we split up. At twenty, we hit the room at the same time.”

“Got it,” Raph said, his eyes glinting dangerously.

He and Don headed for the fire escape while Mikey went with Leo in the opposite direction. The pair used the same handholds that Mikey had used earlier in the evening to make their way down to the broken window leading to room four-ten.

The first thing that Don noticed as he climbed through the window from the fire escape was that there were colors spiraling around the walls, floor, and ceiling of the hallway in front of him.

He waited for Raph to join him and see the phenomenon for himself before asking, “How do you feel?”

Raph shrugged. “Like myself. I guess April’s theory works.” He waved a finger at the hallway. “What does this mean?”

They had begun walking and noticed that all of the room doors were standing open. “I think it means that the magic is getting stronger,” Don answered.

“Peachy,” Raph muttered, a scowl on his face. “Where’d all the people go?”

“I have no idea,” Don said. “Probably out stealing things for that lunatic.”

As they neared room four-ten, they saw that its door was standing wide open as well. There was no sound coming from within.

“Shell,” Raph murmured, putting a lot of feeling into that one word. “Maybe he’s gone too.”

“Let’s hope not,” Don said. “You ready?”

Raph pulled his sais, moving in front of Donatello. “I was born ready.”

“Now.”

Together they raced into the room just as Leo and Mikey came in through the window. The room wasn’t empty as Raph had feared. Instead, it was full of people, either packing things into boxes, or in the process of exiting the room with stolen goods.

The self-proclaimed King of Thieves stood to one side, the golden bowl in his hands. He stared at the turtles in surprise.

“Release these people!” Leo demanded.

A calculating expression replaced the one of shock. “I don’t know how you escaped the bowl’s spell, or how you’re resisting it now, but no one outsmarts the King of Thieves.” He lifted the bowl higher. “Obey me,” the Master Thief said. “Destroy the turtles!”

As one, the people dropped whatever they were holding and turned on the turtles. Some of them reached into boxes to grab anything they could use as a weapon.

When a woman swung a candlestick at Mikey, he swerved to the side and then pushed her hard enough to send her sprawling. She immediately stood up and came at him again.

Leo kicked a jewel encrusted knife from the hands of an attacker. “Try not to hurt them!”

Two people were stalking Don, who was backing away from them. There wasn’t much room to swing his staff, so he stuck an end between the ankles of one of them, tripping him. He punched the other in the gut to force him back.

Raph was grappling with a heavyset man wielding a gun. It discharged into the ceiling before Raph wrenched it out of his hands. Tossing it under the bed, Raph punched the man, who sank unconscious to the floor.

“Try not to hurt them, he says,” Raph groused, tangling with another pair of attackers. “What about us?”

The King of Thieves was laughing as he snatched stolen jewelry and cash off the dresser and stuffed his pockets. When he could carry no more, he dodged combatants on his way to the door. The press of people kept the turtles from getting close enough to stop him.

“I will have to cut my losses and be content with what I can leave here with tonight,” the Master Thief said as he paused in the doorway. “But after this, no more waiting. The magic is already growing. By tomorrow I’ll have control over thousands. Enjoy your last moments, turtles!”

xxxxxxxxxx

April stood at the corner of the building which housed the hotel in order to stay out of view of the lobby clerk. When she’d arrived, she’d seen that there was a delivery truck parked directly in front of the hotel doors.

That didn’t strike her as odd because it fit with the Master Thief’s modus operandi. After a minute though she saw people exiting the building with boxes, televisions, and even luggage.

Every one of those people had the tell-tale dead stare of someone transfixed. They were clearly under the spell of the witch bowl and April felt a growing dread. By now the turtles should have reached the King of Thieves and stopped this madness.

Fearing that something was wrong, April decided she couldn’t just stand there waiting. She adjusted the glasses on her face and walked towards the hotel entrance. If the problem was that the 3D glasses didn’t work, the worst that would happen was that she would be mesmerized again.

Careful to effect the same zombie-like behavior as everyone else, April entered the hotel lobby. Right away she saw prisms of color rotating over every surface. Two more people went past her carrying boxes and she noted that one of them wore a shirt with the hotel’s logo on it. Since there was no one at the desk, she figured that was the lobby attendant.

April took quick stock of herself and realized that the magic wasn’t affecting her. The glasses were working, so why hadn’t her friends made an appearance?

The elevator delivered another pair of people to the lobby and April quickened her pace, stepping inside before the doors could close. She pressed the button for the fourth floor and as she was slowly lifted, her anxiety grew.

As soon as the doors opened, April heard the sounds of a fight. Stepping out, she saw people going into the room she assumed was four-ten, many of them wearing their night clothes.

Then came the sound of the Master Thief’s voice. His words were indiscernible until he backed out into the hallway to shout, “Enjoy your last moments, turtles!”

In his hands was the witch bowl. April started in his direction, moving fast.

The man was laughing, his gaze still directed into the room he’d just exited. Though April’s attention was on him, something flashed red in her peripheral vision and the second that object registered in her conscious mind, she spun towards it.

With both hands, April yanked the fire extinguisher off the wall. She could hear the turtles shouting and instantly knew the thief had set hotel residents on them.

April was only a couple of feet from the man when he turned and saw her. His expression shifted from elation to fury and he swung the bowl right at her head, spattering the walls with water.

Ducking beneath his swing, April swept the man’s legs out from under him. When he hit the floor, she caught hold of the bowl and wrested it from his hands. He started to get up and she punched him as hard as she could.

Skipping back to make certain she was out of his reach, April quickly tossed the bowl on the carpet. Pulling the pin on the fire extinguisher, April aimed the nozzle at the bowl and squeezed the handle.

Foam shot out of the extinguisher and began coating the metal bowl.

“No!” The Master Thief shot up from the floor to dive at April.

As he neared her, April pivoted, bringing the base of the extinguisher up and driving it into his stomach. His breath left him in a loud _huff_ and he crumpled to his knees, both arms clutching his midriff, and then toppled the rest of the way over.

Turning her attention back to the bowl, April continued spraying it with foam until the extinguisher was empty.

When she looked up, April saw that the colors given off by the bowl’s magic had disappeared. She heard an exclamation from inside the thief’s room and the sound of something shattering.

Keeping an eye on the King of Thieves, April cautiously approached the door to room four-ten.

xxxxxxxxxx

“Get to the window, we need to bail!” Leo shouted, wrestling with several people who had jumped on him.

“Retreat?” Raph exclaimed, furiously shoving a man aside. “That ain’t my style!”

Don’s bō collided with a mop handle as one of the hotel janitors tried to hit him with it. “Bad odds, Raph, bad odds!”

Mikey slipped past a pair of attackers and wrenched one of the men off of Leo. “The King of Thieves is getting away!”

Leo managed to shake off his assailants and started for the window. “We can catch him in the lobby if we hurry!”

“I can live with . . . . Hey!”

Raph’s surprised yelp and shattering glass made his brothers turn towards him, expecting to see him beset by a mob. Instead they found him staring at a man lying on the floor at his feet, the remains of a glass goblet nearby.

Before anyone could say a word, others began dropping all around them. Each person’s eyes slowly slid shut and then they simply collapsed.

“Guys, the swirly colors are gone,” Mikey said. “What happened?”

“Maybe he’s out of range,” Don said.

Master Splinter suddenly appeared at the open window. “There are people lying on the sidewalk in front of the building. What has happened?”

“Everyone okay in here?” April asked, peering in from the hallway.

“April! What’s wrong? Why did you come up here?” Don asked.

“I got worried,” April said. “I kept seeing people coming out of the hotel non-stop.” She nodded at the people on the floor. “Are they all right?”

Don squatted down to check a man’s pulse, and then turned to inspect the woman on his other side. “They’re fine. I think they’re just unconscious the way you were earlier.”

“Did ya’ see that thief? He went running out of here after siccing these people on us,” Raph said.

“He’s out here,” April said, backing out of sight.

The turtles exchanged puzzled glances and followed her. In the hallway they found April standing over the King of Thieves. He looked distinctly green, as though he was about to throw up, and was making no effort to stand.

April took off her glasses. “It’s safe now.”

“The bowl?” Leo asked.

In answer, April pointed to where the foam-covered bowl lay, the fire extinguisher on the floor next to it.

“I figured if it couldn’t reflect colors, it might shut down,” April explained.

“Good thinking,” Mikey said. “Now what do we do with him?”

“Tie him to a chair in his room and call the cops,” Raph said. “When they see all the stolen stuff in there, they’ll deal with him.”

“What about the people who were under his spell?” Don asked.

“Like April, they should recover their senses in a few hours,” Master Splinter said. “There will be questions and much confusion, but that is for the authorities to sort out.”

“I want my stolen goods back before we leave,” April said. “Filing a claim would be just a little too awkward.”

“You’ve earned that right,” Don said. “I’ll help you find everything. Most of it is probably in his pockets.”

“Wait a second,” Leo said before anyone could move. “Before we leave here, we need to decided what to do about that bowl.”

“Hang on,” April said, darting into the hotel room and reappearing with a bedspread. She gingerly wrapped the bowl in it and then picked it up.

“Maybe we should throw it in the river,” Mikey suggested.

“I’ve got a better idea,” April said, looking at Donatello. “We’re all going back to the lair from here and you’re going to use your torch to melt this thing into a lump. After that, we are going to dig a hole somewhere deep in the tunnels and bury it.”

“That sounds like a very good plan,” Don said in agreement.

After they had relieved the King of Thieves of April’s belongings, they left him tied to a chair. His loud groans could be heard throughout the hallway.

As they followed April to the elevator, Raph nudged Leo in the ribs and grinned. “Ya’ know, if ya’ ever get tired of leading the team, ya’ can always turn that job over to April. She seems to like giving orders.”

“I heard that,” April called back at them. “March, you slowpokes.”

Leo returned his brother’s smile. “I see what you mean.”

End


End file.
